Brand Mentions in Social Media as a Key Performance Indicator in the German Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry

Abstract

This research aims to explore correlations between consumer-generated social media activity and the level of sales of German brands from the fast moving consumer goods industry. In particular, the objective was to examine whether there is a correlation between the number of brand mentions in social media and the sales of these products. The results indicate that the number of brand mentions and sales correlate positively in relation to products from the food and beverages category while this is not the case with respect to the non-food product category. Hence, marketers need to promote consumer-generated social media activity particularly for food and beverages.